Crown Princess Economics
by Deviate's Fish
Summary: (Crossover with Maoyuu) "Avatar! Be mine!" "No!", that was the start of a strange and educational adventure.
1. 0, 1, 2

Crown Princess Economics

* * *

**0. Ouyuu: Oujo Yuusha!**

_How did it come to this?_

_He glided down the corridors, his toes barely touching the obsidian tiles. He didn't need to, being one with the air. It had come down to this: him and her, the two who would decide the fate of the world._

_Honestly, he didn't want to do this at all..._

_...to kill._

_He just wanted to float about, staring at the clouds and... he shook his head. This was no time to think of such thoughts._

_She stood at the end of the corridor, upon the marble steps. She was not surrounded by gold and scarlet as he had thought she would be. There were no fires either._

_As they stood, a pair opposite of each other, staring into each other's eyes with deathly intent and the determination that would shape the world..._

"_Avatar," she raised one hand towards him, welcomingly, with a twisted smirk and a pair of sad eyes, "Be mine!"_

"_No!"_

* * *

**1. First Memories**

Azula loved fire.

It was a heated passion that grew since she was a child. Fire surrounded her every sight, and she saw it wherever her sight lied. She was only two summers old, at the time, but she had already delighted in such things.

She saw the flames in the eyes of warriors and saw the heat within the hearts of people. Everyone, it seemed, had at least a speck of flame within them. Even the tiniest embers evoked a sense of awe and adulation in her heart. She tickled the flames around her, lighting candles.

Then she started to play pranks. They were just small things, like singeing Mother's favorite dress or lighting a spark at the tip of a serving girl's hair. Soon, it become a game to her, because she found the raw emotional responses to her actions were such a wonder to behold.

Azula loved fire; there was a great bonfire in passion. To see people angry, sad, crying or shouting were all so... so... interesting.

But then Azula discovered that some had more fire, more heated presence, than others. Grandfather Azulon was a blazing sun to behold. His motions were each a wonder to see, but there was a vast mystery in him that enthralled Azula. He was not the only one though, every member of Azula's family was the same.

At least, that was what Azula had thought.

It was the first lesson that Azula learned. Despite what others wish to believe, those are only wishes. Such things cannot be reality... the world is unfair. She did not even fully comprehend the lesson she had learned on her own, only that no one was born equal. The world, it seemed, would always favor one over another.

It was this way with her sibling, Zuko. The flames within Zuko were dim, hidden. It wasn't as if they weren't there, as Azula first thought. No, they were just... not flames that burn brightly or hotly. They were flames that hid in the dark. Compared to Azula's own brightly burning soul, Zuko was, if nothing else, pitiful. Little two-year old Azula would often feel sad for Zuko and crawl over, to pet him on the head. It was a motion that she had seen Mother had often used on Zuko, to sooth the older boy's woes.

But Zuko was a boy. He was so foreign. Why did he pull away? Why did he shriek loudly and act embarrassed? Azula understood little, but she soon realized the truth.

"_Zuzu is ashamed of me_," she thought.

But she didn't give up, for flames wanted to spread and never give up. Like a tiny flare, she wanted Zuko to notice her.

Azula was not good at that.

It might have been because she was royalty and she was not raised beside her peers. It could also be because no one actually told her what she was to do to appeal to her brother's feelings. But most of all, it could be because she was not even two and a half years old yet.

So she threw fires at Zuko's feet. So she burnt a part of his 'dragon's tail' off. So she tried to follow him around... what was she supposed to do to get her older brother's attention?

No one told her, and soon Azula realized she had to learn somehow.

Father was a busy man, even during those hazy times. Grandfather was similar in that nature. Only Mother was always around the palace, around their home. But why did Mother look away?

Why did Mother never pat Azula like she did Zuko? The emotions within Mother's eyes were oddly familiar, but Azula could not understand why. Why was Mother looking at her like this and why did her chest tighten and hurt when she saw Mother like that?

Azula tried to reason with herself. Mother and Zuzu's fires are similar; they are creatures who thrived in the shadows. "_They are not like me_," she thought. But that could not be it alone, could it? Around the palace, Azula had seen other high ranked nobles with their children. There was a feeling of... something like caring between them. It was a bond that Azula did not have.

Azula loved fire, but she hated her first lesson.

The world is not fair. The spirits and the people are the same, none of them are fair. Mother _loves_ Zuko. Zuko _loves_ Mother. Mother teaches Zuko about life. Mother tells Zuko what to do and what not to do. Mother dotes Zuko and lets him sit on her lap. Mother whispers secrets into Zuko's ear. She does these things because she loves Zuko.

...But who loves Azula?

* * *

**2. Sparky**

"Hey Zuzu, whacha doin'?" She leaned in and tried to smile sweetly. It didn't work on Zuko though, but it never worked on Zuko. He inherited Mother's distrust for Azula somehow. But his trust for Mother was so great that he didn't even question the instincts that he had learned from her.

All he did was glare at Azula, as if she had interrupted him while he was in the middle of something important. His lips curled down and his brow furrowed, like how Azula imagined Father's expression would be if she had interrupted his War Council. But this was no war room. "I'm practicing my forms," Zuko grumbles in annoyance. He turns away from Azula and grumbles in faux-anger, "Go away Azula. I've got work to do."

He didn't notice how Azula's shoulders sagged slightly. Zuko also did not notice how the once eager expression of impish joy had slipped from Azula's face, leaving a blank mask of jealousy.

"Ha!" Zuko yelled as he struck against invisible shadows. "Ha! Ha! Hee-yah!"

Azula decided then, that if Zuko wanted to play like that, then he could. He wanted to play with fire, well... all he had to do was ask for some. Azula felt her lips twist back into a smirk, but so utterly unlike her previous expression. There was little joy in her mind, but there was a sense of satisfaction as she spoke in a high-pitched singing voice, "Oh, Zuzu, if you wanted to play with fire..."

Before Zuko could react, a burst of flames scorched his feet. "Ow! Azula, stop—are you Firebending? Ow! Stop it!"

"Make me, Zuzu," Azula's frown turned upside down into a malicious grin. "Stop me if you can. And, well, if you can't... then dance!" Thin, streaks of fire shot from her palms, like tiny whips wiping at Zuko's feet.

"H-hey! Ow!" Zuko hopped away, using his far more athletic build to dodge and roll away. "You, I'm gonna!"

"Zuko! Azula!" A familiar voice called from the entrance of the gardens.

Hearing this voice, and the underlying tone within, both children stopped mid-motion and stood straight, turning to the source of the voice before bowing low. Azula called out in an enthused voice while Zuko mumbled in something like shame again, "Greetings, Father."

"Children," Father nodded. He made a motion at Zuko before nodding. At this, Zuko bit back a comment and bowed his head just enough to be different from a nod and then strode away so quickly he might as well have been running. "Azula, what were you doing?"

At just past three-years old, Azula knew at least that people did not like to be burned. Still, she knew that she had to think of an excuse. With Father, everything seemed to be a test. "I was... helping Zuzu train."

"You were helping Zuko train," Father corrected. He sounded neither pleased nor displeased, and he gave no indication that he cared about what happened. Father simply nodded, before turning around and then walking away. Before he left, he added, "Do not damage your brother more than he can heal, Azula."

That was a special day for Azula. She learned many lessons that day, from such simple interactions, that she would look back upon and realize to be valuable lessons in her life.

...Father saw Zuko as a thing. He is a source of entertainment? No, he was a resource? Yes, a resource. But why would Father ask Azula not to do that?

It was a twisted lesson, where many others might have told her she should have learned something else. But Azula learned what she would later value more. She learned that resources like Zuko have limits. Even she had limits.

Everything had limits... every source was scarce.

This was a lesson that Azula would later come to define her life around. But for now, she sought only a way to play with Zuko—to 'help' Zuzu—without permanently making a mark. She would need to learn how to hurt him, without leaving a mark. Fires scorch and fires burn. Azula loved fires, but it just couldn't do it. Not in this case, but she thought for a moment, and something came to her. Just something light would be best... and then a tiny spark built up between Azula's two fingers.

How... _electric_.

* * *

Crown Princess Economics notes:

_This is a story about Azula. Drabbles, mainly._


	2. 3, 4

Crown Princess Economics

* * *

**3. Behind Every Smile, a Dagger**

"Go then," Father had growled harshly at Mother, with venomous intent, "Go dote upon Zuko. You have made it very clear who you favor of the two."

Mother's eyes turned to Azula, wide and strange. Her hands vibrating in Azula's eyes before she turned back to Father, bowing her head before taking short, shaky steps backwards out of the room.

Azula's head cocked to the side.

"_What was Mother thinking of when she looked at me?_" She wondered to herself. It was not a question for Father. For Father and Grandfather, Azula had questions only of the ways of violence and war. It was a hot fire that burned within and sought release. To understand the cool, smoldering heat of Mother, she would need another answer...

Tiny arcs of light flew from her fingers, running down her length like streaks of light. They danced wildly and sporadically along her limbs and around the floor. They were bright and hot, but to Azula, they were simply tiny slivers of herself.

It was not the case to Zuko.

Zuko hopped back, taking several aerobic twists and turns as lightning, or 'Cold Fire' as Father called it, flew around him. He dodged each bolt and each arc with pin point accuracy, knowing just how painful each shock was from his intimate experiences with his sister.

His mind took no time to note how he seemed to dodge every strike at him with only one millimeter to spare, nor did he take into consideration that the lightning was moving far too quickly for even superhumans like his Grandfather to perceive. No, he did not know that he was dancing in Azula's palm, but Azula did, "DANCE ZUZU, DANCE!" She shouted excitedly. While Zuko's flame was like that of Mother's when he went into action, he was no calm ember. "COME ON, ZUZU! MAKE SOME FLAMES!"

Both Azula and Zuko knew that Zuko's flames would not stop the lightning. Zuko would have grumbled, if he didn't actually think his life was on the line. Instead, he focused on flailing about, trying to play keep away.

He had tried everything, attacking from close by or attacking from afar, but this trick that Azula pulled was just too overwhelmingly powerful for him to even have a chance. His offense and defense were nothing... like a single blade of grass to the flaming breath of Uncle Iroh.

So Zuko dodged for his life.

And so Azula cheered on the inside; her brother was finally paying attention to her. She had seen it often, from over the walls of the garden and from the gates of the courtyard, the elite soldiers of the Fire Nation training for hours upon hours. When they have worked themselves to exhaustion, they would show a sense of something Azula didn't understand. It was a show of something between familial caring and aggressive rivalry. Azula didn't understand it, but she liked it.

So it would be almost half of one hour before she stopped, just as Zuko collapse on the stone tiles of the garden in exhaustion. A thin sheen of sweat covered his body, as well as hundreds of tiny pock marks that bit into his clothes.

"Ha... You're... ha... done... ha...?" Zuko panted out as he collapsed. His back smashed Mother's favorite flowers and they caused his skin to itch horribly, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Azula's hands were on her knees. She was sweating from the exertion too, but she could still stand on her feet, "J-just for now... Zuzu... huffhuff... I'll let you go... yeah."

Zuko never volunteered to talk to Azula. It was strange to see him do this, but perhaps her observations of soldiers had something to do with it? Azula was secretly pleased by this, and her happiness grew with each word Zuko spoke in her direction, "What... ha... brought... ha... this... ha... on?" He tried to look at her, but after raising his neck for two seconds, his head bumped into the earth, "... ow."

"Z-Zuzu," Azula started to ask. For some reason, her voice stopped when she thought about what she wanted to ask. She could hear her heart pounding against her small chest, but she had first thought it was because of her short exercise. Was it not, though? Why did she want to just hide in her room and forget about this? These feelings were strange to Azula, foreign. But they were just feelings; Azula wiped them away thoroughly with a cleaning fire in her mind and spoke again, "Zuzu, why does Mother look at me like that?"

"...Like..." Zuko blinked a few times, partly to get the sweat out of his eyes, but also partly in confusion. "Like what?" He panted again, softer now as his body acclimated and caught up.

"Like..." Azula frowned. She didn't know either. She blinked a few times before grumbling, "I'm... I'm not sure. Like one of the serving girls, I think. When I burned Mother's night dress she was going to wear to impress Father, knocked over a few candles and hid. Mother caught the serving girl with it... and the servant had that look." Azula motioned with her hands vaguely, unsure of how to correctly expressing her feelings. She was not even three years old yet, after all.

Zuko actually sat up this time, though he had a tired look in his eyes that told Azula that he wasn't going to stand. But just by sitting up, he was already at the eye-level with Azula. He had a curious look on his face, unlike how he had ever looked at Azula. It was as if he actually wanted to talk to her, but he stopped. Instead he mumbled, "It's probably nothing, why don't you ask mom?"

"_Mother_," Azula emphasized on the word, her heart still full of respect for her idols and older family members, yet. "Mother does not..." She growled something unintelligible, "...me, like she... you. I don't know! Argh!" She tossed a ball of fire at Zuko, who just lied back down to dodge it.

"Then ask dad," Zuko grumbled in return, "I don't know what they're thinking. They're adults."

Later that day, after the servants took time to clean Azula up and make her pretty and smell nice, and restricted in a tight robe again, Azula approached her Father. He had just returned from a trip to the colonies and he had a strange, satisfied look on his visage. But strangely enough, several of the courtiers looked more upset with Father than usual. Azula had originally reasoned that this was because they envied him for his bright flames in his heart, but somethings...

"Greetings, Dear Father," her tiny feet patted up the obsidian tiles up to Father. "Might I have your ear?"

Father looked down and stroked Azula's head adoringly, "Of course, my fire poppet. What is it?"

"Why does Mother look at me like that?" Azula paused and realized that she might have the same problems as she had with Zuko. She blinked before adding quickly, "Like... like one of the sycophants when they're lookin' at you when you're not looking, Father."

"Looking, speak properly, Azula," Father corrected sternly.

Azula frowned the way only a three-year-old could and replied, "I am speaking propah, Father."

"Haha," Father's chest rumbled as he laughed. His flames shimmered brightly as small sparks and embers of his heat brushed off and onto Azula in adoration. He nodded and replied, "Alright Azula, my daughter, come, let us discuss your mother." Father patted his lap.

Azula suppressed a squeal before she jumped onto his lap happily.

"Now Azula, my daughter," Father intoned, "What is it about Mother's glance that troubles you?"

Azula frowned, thinking upon this for a moment, before struggling to come up with an answer. She shrugged awkwardly, "I don't know, Father. I don't... feel troubled? I am confused. Why doesn't Mother pet me and talk to me like she does to Zuz... er, Zuko?" Why is she unfair? Azula did not ask the questions that she knew there were no answers for.

Father's smile seemed to disappear, as he looked like he was not really seeing Azula on his lap, but looking at something far away. But then his smile returned, though it did little to assure Azula and did not have the effect it should. Azula felt her chest jump as her father looked down at her like that, saying words like, "It is of no matter, my daughter. She is merely surprised by your ability. Now, I need to talk with your Grandfather."

Father had then set her down before drifting away.

But Azula stared and watched his back, knowing that she had not gotten an answer. That smile Father had given her was just like that of a sycophant's. Since when did Father not speak the truth to her?

Since when did everything seem to be a lie?

It was then that Azula learned her next lesson of life. She might love the direct passion of fire, but it was the hidden things that made the world go on. People lie...

People always lie... so why shouldn't she?

* * *

**4. No One Starts At the Top**

It was two years before any real lessons of life would be learned again. By that time, Azula was four years old and a competent enough Firebender that all the courtiers of the Nation knew that she was a genius where her brother was "merely competent". It was a good thing, to be able to create blue fires. They were hotter than the red embers within nearly everyone she met.

Uncle Iroh had sent back gifts from his campaign in the distant land of the Earth Kingdom. He had sent great things for Mother and Father and Grandfather, with a letter that addressed his whole family. He even sent Zuko a blade of some quality that it shone against the sun and didn't scratch against stone. But all he had sent for Azula was a figure of wax, wood, and linens.

It was obvious what her first inclination was, but Azula did not follow it through.

What was the point? Resources were scarce, after all. There was only one blade. Should she take it from Zuko, what was there to stop Mother or Father to take it from her? She could hide it or destroy it, but what was the point? Enjoyment, perhaps? She had enjoyed the suffering of others, and Zuzu's whines were especially hilarious, like grape juice to her ears. But what was the point of that?

Her time was limited, after all. If she spent time to take from him and to trick him, then she would lose that time on other things... perhaps even better things? It was something that was understood by everyone, but no one really had a really told her what it was.

Still, it was an opportunity lost to her; she knew that much. It was her opportunity... cost. Azula nodded and accepted this, thinking of what else she could do. She wanted a blade, Zuzu had a blade... then where else would she get a blade?

Well, it wasn't her brightest idea...

...but she snuck out of the palace and left it for the first time in her life.

It was a grave mistake in some ways, but in others, it was an eye-opening experience. The streets out of the palace, once far passed the guarded walls of the nobility, were a crowded place. There were people of all kinds, though most simply ignored her.

They _ignored _her.

She _should_ feel insulted. Even the nobles who kissed the hem of her father's robes would turn their heads as she passed and bow low, despite her age. She was an accomplished Firebender, enough to have earned such a title as 'Master', though her assertion of this often only made her Grandfather and Father laugh. She was special though, so why did no one even look at her?

She frowned and paused, pondering if it would be best to start sprouting flames from the ground to get the people's attention. But this was the Fire Nation... _her _Fire Nation, as Father had often drilled into her head. She should not do such things, not when... well, she shouldn't do such things like hurting her people for no reason. She didn't know why, but maybe she will ask Father when she returned. Well, it wasn't as if she actually cared if they got hurt or not, but she was here for a blade, not for other things.

...So maybe another day then.

She walked down the streets, seeing many things happening that she had not yet seen before. Children ran about, kicking balls of cloth, old men sat on the side of the road, playing some kind of board game while drinking tea, adults shouted offers of good fruit or good vegetables... So many things that Azula felt almost overwhelmed, she wanted to just go back and clutch her head. This was too much for her to process, so young and so out of her comfort zone.

But she had a goal, and she had set out to do it. Oh, that's a nice looking apple—ah!

"Hey, what you think you're doing there? You think you dressed up all nice means you can steal?" A grown man, almost as tall as Father, but twice as thick, had grabbed her wrist and lifted her off the ground.

"Ow!" Azula cried, as she struggled, "That hurts!"

She had felt pain before, being trained to fight and be the Firebender that she was, but this had come as a surprise. The old fruit seller didn't think anything of this though, because he shook her violently, probably thinking that he was teaching a good lesson, or perhaps only venting his stress upon her, "Don't think about it! I'm gonna give you a pounding! I bet you're the urchin who's been stealing from me for the past week, aren't ya, ya runt?" His spit flew a little, disgusting Azula enough to cause her to cringe and turn away.

But Azula... Azula loved fire. And she had three limbs still free, so she...

"Ah, Mister Ah," a voice cut into the tension and caused both of them to turn. A young man, probably around Father's age, dressed in brown and green, walked up the old man. "I believe we had a meeting just about now?"

"Yer late," the old man grumbled, not letting Azula go. The fires built up within her chest she...

"Now, now," The younger man replied pleasantly, "I can't make the times with the ships between the colonies being the way they are. How about we talk about the supplies? I believe my men need to be fed, after all, and you had touted yourself to be quite the food merchant."

The old man glared, but his grip on Azula's wrist had loosened. He spat to the side and then said, "Bah, alright. But no bargaining. I ain't gonna haggle. You either get the price or you don't, 'cause I'm already going as low as I can with you Earth Kingdom 'lot."

"..._Earth Kingdom?_" Azula's eyes widened. She was surprised just enough that the roaring rage of the fires that she had built up suddenly lost their momentum. She was about to cry out in surprise but the other, younger man replied congenially yet again.

"I won't be haggling, Mister Ah. After all, I'm a very reputable merchant myself," he smiled.

The old man rolled is eyes, "Pfft, yer all the same to me, kid. It don't matter that yer some big short, Bei Tong."

"Bei _Fong_, Mister Ah," the man said again, his smile not shaking even once, to Azula's surprise. "And don't you forget it. But that's not why I'm here. You and I both know there's no sense in haggling with someone as knowledgeable as yourself, but perhaps we can talk about this over dinner and _baijiu_? It will be a deal that helps us both. Something that is ah... mutually profitable..."

Azula blinked dumbfounded as the older man simply let her go (even as she clutched the 'stolen' apple, not that she considered it stolen, especially with the whole of this Nation being hers). He didn't even spare her a second glance as the soothing voice of the other man, Beifong, continued to chatter on.

What was he doing? How was he doing it? Azula wanted to ask; she wanted to know and sate her curiosity, despite her instincts telling her no. It would be a path that lacked the fires that she once sought, it would be against the blessings that she had inherited it was...

It was...

But then Azula had already made her decision and taken her first step on to a road far different from what destiny had planned out for her.


	3. 5, 6

Crown Princess Economics

* * *

**5. Good and Evil**

"_Are... are you sure?" The Crown Princess frowned, her hands clasped together in a sort of gesture that borderlined begging. If she hadn't been so graceful and dignified, Aang might have actually thought she had been begging. Instead, she had leaned forward just enough that her eyes were a level below his and stared at him intently. Every part of her body language said that she was sincere, and part of that frightened Aang._

"_O-of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Aang swung an arm to keep the Crown Princess away, but there was no force in his strike. The winds, waters and earths did not rise against her because he did not call them. Though he had been focused, the lack of guard throughout this palace had already set his mind racing, thinking of what was actually happening. Coupled with her actions—such peaceful actions despite her, and her nation's, reputation—the prang of doubt and insecurity in his case had already taken root. He blustered and tried to reign in his tumultuous, rebellious emotions, "The Fire Nation is evil! You started this war, and I'm here to end it!"_

"_Oh? So I personally started the one hundred year long war, when I am only a scant few years older than you?" The Crown Princess seemed strangely puzzled by this, "But I couldn't have been alive back then... though, you could have. Why, you would have had a higher chance of starting the war than me."_

_Aang reeled back, shocked by the... the audacity of the Crown Princess, coupled with her still seemingly innocuous expression. But just as quickly as he had been knocked off of his feet, he was up again, "That's not... I'm not the one who slaughtered my people!"_

"_But you can't blame me for such an action, can you?" The Crown Princess asked. "Plus, how did they __**all**__ somehow get wiped out in the span of half a day? I've always wondered about that, you know, but records from that time seem to have been mostly wiped out... Ah! But enough about that! You know I didn't kill you people, so... why not—?"_

"_No!" Aang cut her off. A small, rebellious part of his mind noted that she had the prettiest colored eyes, like large ambers of gold that called out to him. Gah! "No, no, no! Even if you weren't the cause of the war, the Fire Nation has done things to cause everyone else pain and suffering! In my travels, I've seen the land ravaged—"_

"_Ah," The Crown Princess perked up, "That's actually a good example of industrialization. Most developing cities have put their lumber to use, and the burning of coal does darken the skies, that's true. But you know, the Fire Nation actually doesn't need to burn coal, because we have Firebenders, right? And we don't even use wood for most of our constructs anymore. It's most likely that you've seen the aftermath of an Earth Kingdom levy for supplies..."_

"—_And the leaders," Aang continued, trying his best to ignore her, "They've been attacked by underhanded Fire Nation tactics that have hurt their people—"_

_The Crown Princess blinked, "Oh, do you mean when the princelings and nobles of the mostly independent lands outside of Ba Sing Se? Many of them who give in to vices such as alcohol, lust, strange herbs, greed, and such things usually blame the Fire Nation somehow when they are caught. It's basic human nature to find a scapegoat, after all, right?"_

"—_Gah!" Aang yelled, "Stop it! Don't even deny that your Fire Nation has killed thousands of people—"_

"_But that's war, right?" The Crown Princess pleaded, "War is something that burns and burns away, the worst being a war of attrition that seems to have no end. That means people will die on both sides. But... at least the Fire Nation, the part that I can control, has been doing its best to take prisoners, right? When was the last time you've seen a filled up Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe prison? I think they don't take prisoners... but that could also be because they can't really afford it..."_

_Aang actually took a step back, his body reacting to the Crown Princess's words without his noticing. He didn't like what she was saying. It was cruel and heartless and... "What do you mean then? That the war is justified somehow? This... I don't want to fight a war! I don't even want to fight! I just... why... we can't get along, but... the..."_

"_Well, I can explain it to you if you wish," The Crown Princess sniffed, "It doesn't really have to be this way, really. But it takes effort from all sides for the conflict to end. And even if you don't understand, being as naïve about this war as you seem now that I have actually spoken with you, I think you can understand what would happen if one side wins."_

_Aang frowned, "What do you mean?"_

_The Crown Princess tried and failed to hide a slightly triumphant smirk at his willingness to listen, "Let me pose the question to you then: what would happen if one side wins? What if the Earth Kingdom wins, for example? Would they levy reparation costs on the Fire Kingdom? What would happen to their heavily developed war industry now that they have won? Where would the soldiers all go? The reparation costs would be so heavy, for the costs of a hundred years of war, that the Fire Nation will never be able to fully pay it. It would destroy that Nation and its loyal peoples, causing them to suffer for a decade, if not more. And it would sow resentment in the Fire Nation's former citizens, who's to say if another leader might rise to lead them into another war, using the other factions as scapegoats for the people's suffering, and rightfully doing so? And think about the war industry in the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. If either faction won, both of their war industries, which amount for at least a third of their gross domestic product, if not much, much more, would collapse. That would mean at least at third of the world's people would be without jobs. Where would the soldiers go then? Some would return home and become farmers or return to their previous jobs, but many of them are career soldiers. After all, they are most likely born within this last hundred years... so what do they do? The Water Tribe warriors would most likely become pirates, while the Earth and Fire factions' soldiers would most likely become mountain bandits or petty warlords. You could, as the Avatar try to fix each and every one of those problems, but I would guess such a thing would take you half a century of constant conflict to address at the very least. You've seen the type of mountain and ocean warfare they can use, such tactics would allow them to evade capture. Not everyone is as honorable as you or my brother, you know."_

_By this point, Aang felt like his eyes were spinning in his skull. That was quite the information dump on a twelve year-old, and Aang couldn't help but mutter, "What magic did you just use?"_

"_Oh? You probably wouldn't believe me if I didn't have some proof, right?" The Crown Princess perked up, "I do have some charts and some calculations I've done. Let me get them right here..." She took out a stack of papers at least half of Aang's height. He has never seen such cleanly made papers, most of which he had seen were either ugly parchment, bamboo scrolls, or a crude type of stuff that wasn't as smooth and white as this at all. He looked through a few of the pages, each one inducing a headache in him that he didn't even know existed, "Aggregate demand? Scarcity versus value creation? Input-output models? Purchasing power parity? Gah... what is this sorcery?"_

"_It's... well, it's economics," The Crown Princess giggled. "Silly Avatar..."_

* * *

**6. No One Hates Maids**

Delegating, Azula soon realized, was the best and most important part of being a leader. No one could do everything, with time itself being a scarce resource. But a leader can delegate duties and jobs to their followers. Father never killed everyone on his own and Mother certainly didn't poison and plan everything by herself. Even 'Uncah' Iroh needed lieutenants to run things for him. A leader didn't focus on the minuet details most of the times, they had people do that for them. Instead, leaders focused on the direction and the goals.

To that end, Azula gathered her two playmates and decided she wanted to delegate to them many of her duties, and then have them delegate further. It certainly wasn't a perfect system, in fact it was a horribly messy system that was filled with problems. But for Azula, it would do for now.

She was only six years old, after all.

"Hey!" Ty Lee waved eagerly while Mai trailed five steps behind her. "What do you have planned for today, oh Princess mine?"

They were polar opposites, Azula mused. But strangely enough, it was Ty Lee who was better with the plans and ideas, where as Mai was better at simply being a follower. It took a while for Azula to come to this conclusion; she had observed them both extensively. Ty Lee would only show her intellect in the little games they played, like Pai Sho or Wei Qi. She was hard for Azula to understand, despite Azula's hard work at learning how to better read people's body language. It seemed that Ty Lee was better learned at this than Azula. But Mai was a completely different case; she was an open book to the world. Most people who met her didn't think so, but that was because they were turned off before they even interacted with Mai. To actually talk with her... it was like talking with Zuzu, Azula decided, but a girl, who wasn't a bender and more competent.

"I've been reading through my etiquette and culture books," Azula began slowly. She had seen enough on the market by now to have learned how to better bargain and haggle, but she certainly didn't want to be in the mindset of 'getting a better deal'. No, she had decided something else...

"Uh huh!" Ty Lee simply smiled and dove into Azula's comfort zone, hugging her for all she was worth before she could even react. Mai offered a slight twitch of her lips upwards and rolled her eyes at Ty Lee's antics.

"I want us to stay together," Azula said. It was easy to appeal to this side of Ty Lee, she had found. Her friend did not react to fires and burnings and sparring like she did, but she seemed to place great importance upon these 'softer', heart-stringing emotions. It was easy to be frank with them, because these words would have more impact, at least that was what she thought. With Mai, the obvious course was also to tell the truth; Azula realized that if she couldn't trust them now, there was no point in delegating to them. "Because I like you two and I trust you. You're my first friends, and I don't want that to change."

"Aw," Ty Lee actually started to tear up slightly, "Of course! What is it Azula?" She was never one for proper etiquette, but Azula found she didn't exactly care.

Somehow, she had moved from merely using her friends to gain her first followers onto something... more. She hated herself at this moment, because even she felt an itchy feeling behind her nostrils at her tear ducts, as if she had liquids to shed too.

Mai had taken two steps closer too, but she didn't join the hug... until Ty Lee grabbed her shoulder and made it into an awkward group huge.

"I... would you stay with me, after we are done with the academy?" Azula asked quietly.

The two girls stopped and looked at Azula. She could see a part of them that would protest. Part of them wanted to do something else. And Azula could understand... Ty Lee would not care about the wishes of her parents for her life at this stage, so her protests would require more time to address, but Mai simply had to follow the directs of her parents.

"I'm not asking for you to give everything up, but..." Azula shrugged helplessly, "I want you as my handmaidens. N-not all the time, mind you, I mean..."

"Oh, you're so silly, Azula," Ty Lee nuzzled against Azula's cheeks with her eyes closed, "Aren't you thinking a bit too far ahead?"

"I'll do it," Mai muttered.

"Huh?"

"I said I'll do it," Mai shrugged. "It's better than going home anyway. My dad wants a son, so he'll be cool about it. It's a glorified maid servant, right? It's not all that bad."

"Well," Azula shuffled her feet a little. She was determined to do this, but it felt like she was manipulating her friends. It just... didn't feel right. But logically, she knew she wanted this. "You've gotta do other stuff too. It's kind of like how the maids in the palace are also elite assassins houses that have served my family for generations and stuff."

Ty Lee blinked, "Wait, does that mean we get to do stuff like dress up as a decoy Azula?"

"...Decoy Azula, really?" Mai deadpanned.

"Hey!" Ty Lee jumped at Mai, who saw her coming and dodged deftly, "I... I'm not really find with _assassinating_people, but we don't really do that, do we?"

"No," Azula frowned. She'd have them delegate that stuff to other maids anyway, they were too valuable to waste on simple assassinating missions. "If all goes well, there won't be any need for actual violence." Because someone else will do it for you.

Ty Lee stared at Azula for a moment before nodding, "Alright. I'll do it too... but I get to choose my uniform! After all, if I'm going to be a maid, I'm going to have to look pretty and dignified at the same time."

"What." Mai blinked.

"...Mai..." Ty Lee sighed before scrunching up her face into an utterly serious expression. Azula had never seen it before. Ty Lee then said in a voice that could chip steel, "Everyone loves maids. No exceptions."

"...What."

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Crown Princess Notes:  
Reviews motivate me.


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